Bogdanoff backs Huntsman for president

State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale picked the right horse back in the 2008 Republican presidential primary race when she got behind John McCain long before he emerged as a front-runner.

Now she's backing Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor who is waging a long-shot campaign from a national headquarters strategically placed in Orlando.

Bogdanoff said she was impressed by Huntsman's resume, which includes a stint as ambassador to China during the Obama administration.

"The fact that he has been sought after by more than one president simply because of his skill and ability, that should impress anybody," Bogdanoff said in an interview on Thursday. "I believe he is electable across party lines because of the career he has led and the issues he has championed."

Huntsman has been branded a moderate by some conservatives in the party, which will not help his chances.

"I'm not sure where they get `moderate,'" Bogdanoff said. "They also called John McCain a moderate. There's nothing about this man (Huntsman) that strikes me as a moderate."

"Number one: I don't think that's a curse word. And it's not reflective in the things he has done."

McCain had little campaign money and not much of an organization in Florida four years ago. But he did have connections to Bogdanoff, then-Sen. Mel Martinez and then-Gov. Charlie Crist.

"The (early) polling never showed McCain ahead," Bogdanoff recalled. "McCain was never the top guy. If you polled South Florida, it showed (Rudy) Giuliani number one."

Most important, McCain had overwhelming momentum from victories in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. His victory in Florida essentially sealed his nomination.

As a result of that experience, Bogdanoff is disinclined to think the Florida presidential straw poll at a Republican gathering in Orlando in September will tell us much about the final outcome.

"You have a very select group of people voting," she said of the straw poll participants. "It helps to some degree. I don't know that it would call the election."